Orphaned calf

[jbaseballmom]

I have a calf born January 8, whose mother died (from bloat) during delivery. The calf received 4 quarts of colostrum (from a local dairy) within 24-26 hours of being born. He has been on milk replacement since and is doing well. He will be 2 weeks old tomorrow. How long will he need to be bottle fed and how long before other food (hay, sweet feed or range cubes) can be introduced?

He also has what appears to be pink eye. The vet called in eye ointment and he has had the ointment put in his eye twice a day since January 11. (4 days old). How long will it take the pink eye to get better? I appreciate any help that anyone could give.

 

[Caustic Burno]

Takes 21 days for the rumen to develop, I wouldn't put him on anything but calf manna and milk until then.

 

[jbaseballmom]

Thanks, I appreciate any help I can get.

 

[milkmaid]

I have a calf born January 8, whose mother died (from bloat) during delivery. The calf received 4 quarts of colostrum (from a local dairy) within 24-26 hours of being born. He has been on milk replacement since and is doing well. He will be 2 weeks old tomorrow. How long will he need to be bottle fed and how long before other food (hay, sweet feed or range cubes) can be introduced?

I like to bottle feed to at least 7-8 weeks. Some folks do longer - I'm sure the calves do better - but milk replacer is expensive. LOL. I prefer to get them weaned early.

You can introduce hay and grain now. He's old enough. I've had week-old calves eating hay beside their dam, and I introduce grain for bottle calves as soon as I can. Around 1-2 weeks. Both grain and hay should be clean & high quality. For grain, I'd suggest a brand-name sweet feed/calf starter. I've used Purina Startena and the calves seem to like it and they do well on it.

 

[dun]

Takes 21 days for the rumen to develop, I wouldn't put him on anything but calf manna and milk until then.

If the rumen isn;t devbeloped why are 7-10 day old calves chewing their cuds?

dun

 

[ctlbaron]

I've wondered the same thing Dun. A week old calf will pick a little grass,eat hay, and eat calf starter. I've heard some people say not to give them anything until they are 3 weeks old. They want something to eat at a few days old. I've never had a problem with feeding them. Personally I think the sooner they eat the better off they are.

 

[preston39]

Takes 21 days for the rumen to develop, I wouldn't put him on anything but calf manna and milk until then.

=====
Where did you get such ridiculous idea? Show us support.

That will be easier after you loosen the cap. I think it is putting to much pressure on what you should have up there.

I have seen calves chew on straws of hay and nuzzle in dry feed at 5-7 days old. Never saw one spit anything out....because they ate it. What do you think mom's immediate milk after birth is for? (I would use the technical term...but then you would have a problem understanfding it) I know you think thats where the tiger stripes come from...huh?

 

[MikeC]

In the very young calf (birth to 3 weeks), the abomasum is the major functional compartment, making up 80% of the total stomach. The other compartments grow quickly once the calf begins eating dry feeds. Figure 1 illustrates the relative size differences of the four stomach compartments for a very young calf and a mature animal.

Before the rumen develops, milk flows directly to the abomasum via the oesophageal groove (a fold in the alimentary tract which directs liquids to the abomasum), by-passing the rumen, reticulum and omasum. At this stage, liquid feeds containing milk proteins, fats and simple sugars are the only useful feeds digestible by the calf.

The time taken by the calf to change from using just the abomasum to efficiently using all four stomachs depends on the type of food it is given. If milk is freely available for a long time, the calf will have only a small appetite for dry feeds and stomach development will be slow. This pre-ruminant phase is most critical in the calf's development. Small digestive upsets can lead to scours (diarrhoea), then dehydration, threatening survival or long term performance. Conversely if feeding management encourages the calf to eat solid feeds, enhanced rumen development reduces dependence on liquid milk to supply essential nutrients, reducing this risk.

By 1 week of age, the calf should be encouraged to eat some grain and hay or pasture. At this time the rumen, reticulum and omasum will begin to develop.

By 1 month of age, calves should be eating substantial quantities of grain and good quality pasture or hay. Calves will become less dependent on milk, risk of scours is reduced, calves can be weaned earlier, and labour and rearing costs are lowered.

 

[Scotty]

I have a month old and she is eating grain(starter ration). Plan on keeping her on milk for another bag and half then wean her off the milk. She is growing fine and started eating hay(her bedding) at two weeks.


Scotty

 

[Victoria]

We haven't had many orphans but the ones we've had we've kept on milk for longer than most peopple do - at least 4 months. There's no difference between the orphans and the ones with mothers in the fall. Of course, we've kept our female orphans so we wanted them to have great nutrition as calves. They mean less orphans later on as they are easy to work with and will take a second if need be.
As far as other food - I'd put some hay in with the calf now. They can't live on hay at this age and need the milk but they like to eat it - or at least chew on it. ;-)

 

[Jeanne - Simme Valley]

Great info MikeC. That's what I had always been told. Sooner they start eating solids, the faster their rumen develops. I see 2-3 day olds picking at the hay.

 

[dun]

Maybe that's the reason our calves all develop such large capacity.

dun

 

[buckaroo_bif]

If the rumen isn;t devbeloped why are 7-10 day old calves chewing their cuds?

dun

I always wondered about that...

 

[norriscathy]

Takes 21 days for the rumen to develop, I wouldn't put him on anything but calf manna and milk until then.

=====
Where did you get such ridiculous idea? Show us support.

That will be easier after you loosen the cap. I think it is putting to much pressure on what you should have up there.

I have seen calves chew on straws of hay and nuzzle in dry feed at 5-7 days old. Never saw one spit anything out....because they ate it. What do you think mom's immediate milk after birth is for? (I would use the technical term...but then you would have a problem understanfding it) I know you think thats where the tiger stripes come from...huh?

Why such aggression? Read Mike C's post and lean a little something!

 

[rk]

MikeC,

Banged the nail squarely on the head!

 

[rk]

I remember through the cobwebs a little from college....esophageal groove closes (due to suckling response?) to prevent milk from going into rumen and to make it go directly into the abomasum. A young calf functions more like a monogastric than a ruminant until rumen begins to function...Some say like 90 or as much as 120 days.

 

[MoGal]

Is that why some bottle calves develop that pot belly? Perhaps their rumen has developed earlier than a calf on momma? 1/2 of my bottle calves had the pot belly and I know it wasn't because of "bad" grain as they got a good milk replacer and the Nutrena Milk Plus pellets and bermuda hay.

 

[milkmaid]

Is that why some bottle calves develop that pot belly? Perhaps their rumen has developed earlier than a calf on momma? 1/2 of my bottle calves had the pot belly and I know it wasn't because of "bad" grain as they got a good milk replacer and the Nutrena Milk Plus pellets and bermuda hay.

I've always chalked it up to not getting proper nutrition. Sure, you can put a bottle calf on good quality hay and grain, but do they eat enough to grow a frame size necessary to keep from having a pot belly? not usually. That's all it is, really, they're just not growing balanced over-all; it takes a lot of grain to get and keep them like a calf on milk, and they don't generally eat as much grain as they should. I usually find they get a pot belly to some extent for a short time after coming off milk replacer, but then if they're kept on a good grain ration, they'll grow out of it.

I've seen older calves on poor pasture with pot bellies; just not able to get their nutritional requirements from the grass. Put them on grain and the difference is amazing.